02_freewheelin/index.htm

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   9 <title>Bob Dylan: Freewheelin' (1963)</title>
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  16 <h1><img alt="The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" src="../graphics/freewheelin.jpg" width="150" height="150" />
  17 The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)</h1>
  18 <p class="recdate">Recorded: April 24, 1962&ndash;April 24, 1963<br />
  19 Released: May 27, 1963</p>
  20 <div id="songs">
  21 <ol>
  22       <li><a href="blowin_in_the_wind.htm">Blowin' In The Wind</a></li>
  23       <li><a href="girl_from_the_north_country.htm">Girl of the North Country</a></li>
  24       <li><a href="masters_of_war.htm">Masters of War</a></li>
  25       <li><a href="down_the_highway.htm">Down The Highway</a></li>
  26       <li><a href="bob_dylans_blues.htm">Bob Dylan's Blues</a></li>
  27       <li><a href="hard_rain.htm">A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall</a></li>
  28       <li><a href="dont_think_twice.htm">Don't Think Twice, It's All Right</a> </li>
  29       <li><a href="bob_dylans_dream.htm">Bob Dylan's Dream</a></li>
  30       <li><a href="oxford_town.htm">Oxford Town</a> </li>
  31       <li><a href="talkin_world_war_iii_blues.htm">Talkin' World War III Blues</a> </li>
  32       <li><a href="corrina_corrina.htm">Corrina, Corrina</a> </li>
  33       <li><a href="honey.htm">Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance</a> </li>
  34       <li><a href="i_shall_be_free.htm">I Shall Be Free</a> </li>
  35     </ol>
  36     <p>Outtakes: </p><ul>
  37       <li><a href="../00_misc/goin_down_to_new_orleans.htm">Going Down To New Orleans</a></li>
  38       <li><a href="death_of_emmett_till.htm">The Death of Emmett Till</a> </li>
  39       <li><a href="../00_misc/lonesome_whistle.htm">Lonesome Whistle Blues</a></li>
  40       <li><a href="../34_bootleg/rambling_gambling_willie.htm">Rambling Gambling Willie</a></li>
  41       <li><a href="../34_bootleg/worried_blues.htm">Worried Blues</a> </li>
  42       <li><a href="../00_misc/hero_blues.htm">Hero Blues</a> </li>
  43       <li><a href="../00_misc/rocks_and_gravel.htm">Rocks and Gravel</a> </li>
  44       <li><a href="../34_bootleg/talkin_bear_mountain.htm">Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre
  45         Blues</a></li>
  46       <li><a href="../34_bootleg/let_me_die_in_my_footsteps.htm">Let Me Die in My Footsteps</a></li>
  47       <li><a href="../34_bootleg/talkin_hava_negilah_blues.htm">Talkin Hava Negeilah Blues</a></li>
  48       <li><a href="../34_bootleg/walls_of_red_wing.htm">Walls of Red Wing</a></li>
  49       <li><a href="../34_bootleg/quit_your_low_down_ways.htm">Quit Your Low Down Ways</a></li>
  50       <li><a href="../28_biograph/baby_im_in_the_mood_for_you.htm">Baby, I'm in the Mood for You</a></li>
  51       <li><a href="../34_bootleg/kingsport_town.htm">Kingsport Town</a></li>
  52       <li><a href="../00_misc/whatcha_gonna_do.htm">Whatcha Gonna Do?</a></li>
  53       <li><a href="../00_misc/milk_cows_calf_blues.htm">Milk Cow's Calf Blues</a></li>
  54       <li><a href="../00_misc/sally_girl.htm">Sally Girl</a><strong> </strong></li>
  55       <li><a href="../00_misc/baby_please_dont_go.htm">Baby, Please Don't Go</a></li>
  56       <li><a href="../00_misc/wichita_blues.htm">Wichita Blues </a></li>
  57     </ul></div>
  58 <div id="intro">
  59 <h2>Introductory notes </h2>
  60     <h3>Eyolf &Oslash;strem</h3>
  61     <p>Ah, but what can I say...! This is the album that is responsible for my addiction to
  62     Dylan (and not because I bought it when it was released). It is not the one I play most
  63     regularly, but whenever I pick it out, I ask myself why I don't do it more often.</p>
  64     <p>Several of the songs are part of the daily routine, of course. Don't Think Twice,
  65     Masters of War, Hard Rain, Girl of the North Country, not to mention Blowin' in the Wind -
  66     I do believe I hear at least one of these every day. Half an album of songs, almost 40
  67     years old, by a then folk singer, that still hold their ground in the repertory of a man
  68     who has for 35 of those years been a rock artist - that's in itself a brand of quality.
  69     And the rest of the songs ain't so bad either.</p>
  70     <p>What this album first of all shows (and which was confirmed by <em>Good As I Been To
  71     You</em>) is what an accomplished guitar player Dylan was - and still is, when he wants
  72     to. There is some really nice guitar work on some of these tracks: the finger-picking on <a href="dont_think_twice.htm">Don't Think Twice</a> and <a href="talkin_world_war_iii_blues.htm">Talkin' WW3 Blues</a>, the free-rhythmical blues a
  73     la Big Joe Williams of <a href="down_the_highway.htm">Down the Highway</a>, the lyricism
  74     of <a href="corrina_corrina.htm">Corrina Corrina</a>, and the persistent, rhythmical
  75     hammering-on of <a href="masters_of_war.htm">Masters of War</a>. None of it is really
  76     (really) difficult - he gets as much effect as possible from techniques that are actually
  77     quite simple (once you master them). This is not to say that he's a cheater (those who
  78     have access to &quot;<a href="../00_misc/hero_blues.htm">Hero Blues</a>&quot;, an
  79     outtake from the <em>Freewheelin'</em> sessions, can hear for themselves that Dylan anno
  80     1963 had a quite good control of his instrument).</p>
  81     <p>A contributing element is the use of <a href="../roadmaps.htm">altered or open tunings.</a>
  82     Three of the songs on <em>Freewheelin' </em>are in open D (<a href="i_shall_be_free.htm">I shall be Free</a>, <a href="corrina_corrina.htm">Corrina Corrina</a>, and <a href="oxford_town.htm">Oxford Town</a>)
  83     and three in Dropped D tuning (<a href="masters_of_war.htm">Masters of War</a>, <a href="down_the_highway.htm">Down the Highway</a>, and <a href="hard_rain.htm">Hard Rain</a>). Several of the outtakes also use such tunings. It is
  84     noteworthy that the playing style in these songs differs considerably from the style of
  85     the <a href="../16_bott/index.htm"><em>Blood on the Tracks</em></a> songs, which were also
  86     originally played in open D tuning. It is said that it was Joni Mitchell who inspired
  87     and/or taught him to use open D tuning, and although he apparently knew it even ten years
  88     earlier, he didn't use the same style and technique then.</p>
  89     <p>A striking unifying feature of the playing style of <em>Freewheelin'</em> is the many
  90     second-inversion chords, <em>i.e.</em> chords with the fifth in the bass, such as D/a (x<strong>0</strong>0232),
  91     which is so prominent in <a href="blowin_in_the_wind.htm">Blowin' In The Wind</a>. Another
  92     (I think related) feature is the many ways he uses to avoid the dominant, such as the turn
  93     C - Gadd4/b - G in <a href="blowin_in_the_wind.htm">Blowin' in the Wind</a> and <a href="bob_dylans_dream.htm">Bob dylan's Dream</a>, about which I intend to write a little
  94     piece some day.</p>
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